The Shelby County Health Department reported 122 new coronavirus cases and no new related deaths on Tuesday, Aug. 25.

About 30% of area ICU patients were either COVID-positive or suspected of having the virus.

The Health Department has been criticized previously for its decision not to release coronavirus case information by individual schools. 

It's Tuesday, Aug. 25, and we're talking about schools and sports, a new slice and 'Dice' place and how a hiring freeze is affecting the county. But mostly schools and sports. 

A new law stripping people’s voting rights for camping on restricted state property is drawing heat from voting rights advocates and state lawmakers who say it is unjustified.

A proposed convenience store with gas pumps on the southeast corner of East Holmes Road and Hacks Cross Road was voted down Monday, Aug. 24, by Shelby County commissioners.

Shelby County commissioners approved a waiver to the freeze Monday for county firefighters but put off another waiver for 78 more positions in other departments. 

The voter turnout totals certified Monday by the Shelby County Election Commission show a larger than normal number of provisional ballots. 

Schools have responsibility to contact people who may have come in contact with the virus on school property. It must happen within 12 hours. 

The Lost Wages Assistance will end when the federal grant funding is exhausted. If the federal funding is not exhausted, payments in Tennessee will end Saturday, Dec. 26.

Dr. Betty Harville was the first Black female optometrist in Tennessee and first Black woman in the U.S. to become a full-time optometry school professor.

About face comes after high-ranking experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, said early results did not prove the therapy works.

With 289 new coronavirus cases and 2,889 tests reported this morning, the day's positivity rate is almost exactly 10% — the figure local health experts want to see. 

Shelby County Schools students will be attending school remotely from home this fall, but the basic rules of school will still apply, with penalties for tardiness, truancy and dress code violations.

Welcome back to The Early Word, where we're talking about a football folly, the pandemic's effect on young people and what the TVA says we stand to lose if we don't choose it for our power. 

Twenty-four juveniles have been killed to date in the city compared to 16 all of last year. Police and the community are grappling with the rise in violent deaths. 

Milton's argument comes as the head of information services for county government says his lean budget could exacerbate problems hiring tech employees. The commission votes Monday on a set of exceptions to the county's hiring freeze totaling 104 positions and nearly $7 million.

Over the past four months, the Carpenter Art Garden, located on Carpenter Street, has distributed over 1,000 masks in Binghampton – free of charge – for both adults and children.

General Sessions Court Clerk-elect Joe Brown, the former Memphis City Council member who won the clerk’s position in the August elections, said he is recovering from coronavirus.

Germantown is distributing masks and signs as part of its “Germantown Fighting Together” campaign. The effort reminds residents of proactive steps to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The Health Department reported 14.4% of the 604 reported tests were positive. 

The Resilience Initiative at Le Bonheur reports depression and mental illness up 250% in family homes since pandemic began; violence in neighborhoods up 350%.

Gov. Bill Lee may have stayed within his boundaries during a state of emergency brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, but legislators still want more “checks and balances” and probably a bigger say in how orders are executed.

In addition to two real-time deaths from COVID-19 reported in the last 24 hours, the health department says 11 new deaths will be added to the total of Shelby County citizens who have died from complications of the novel coronavirus.

Republican state Rep. Tom Leatherwood of Arlington believes schools will have a hard time staying open this year because of quarantine rules and the impact of one person testing positive for COVID-19.